Posted by Racer on August 1, 2004, at 12:03:09
In reply to Re: An interview question, posted by Dinah on August 1, 2004, at 11:14:24
I get all up in arms over this one, too, Dinah. My husband, for example, is a GREAT programmer -- with all the social skills and salesmanship of most really good programmers. Sure makes interviewing a duck shoot for him, right? Especially if the ducks are in another county...
Same with politics, for that matter. In a lot of elections over the past 20 years or so, I've watched people I really respected go down in flames against others who don't look like anything more than what we used to describe as "sales slime" when I was a Suit. (Admittedly, the more localized the election, the more apparent this part has been. By the time they're running for state or national offices, most all of them are competent promoters.) Way back in 1984, I voted with all my heart for Mondale, simply because I felt he was telling me the truth -- especially about taxes. That's because I value that honesty, as a sign of respect for me as a voter. Alas, that's just not possible these days, with so much at stake.
And if you look for it around you, you'll see the same phenomenon in almost every area of your life: the pharmaceutical companies have a hard time being honest about the downsides to their drugs, because no one wants to hear that, say, their anti-psychotic can trigger metabolic syndrome X -- even if the benefits of that drug make it a reasonable trade off for most people who take it!
Mark Shields brought this up the other night, discussing the DNC. He said that the one thing he really missed was anyone calling for a collective sacrifice for the good of the nation. Personally, I think he's hit on the major problem we face today -- but I'm gonna resist the temptation to go on about that. :-D Can you imagine? Me resisting any impulse?
Going back to job interviews, regardless of how we feel about it, we still have to choose between two not-very-attractive choices: Spinning ourselves and playacting the part of that Ideal Candidate; or taking the very real risk of not getting the job. It's always been true that, with a choice between two more or less equally qualified candidates, an interviewer will always go for chemistry. If you can get along well with the interviewer, and he or she feels as if you're someone who could fit into the office personality pool, you've just scored 6 out of ten on the interview. After all, no matter how qualified you are, you're still gonna be spending 8 to 10 hours a day with these people, right? They don't want to spend that much time with someone they feel uncomfortable around, right? On the other hand, sometimes it really does feel so slimy and dishonest, I want to go home and shower it all off when I walk out of one of those interviews. Just creepy.
By the way, I've got two distinct sides to my personality: one side is light and sunny and breezy and easy-going (when i'm not drowning in the pit, at least), but the other is pretty much polar opposite of that. Serious, goal oriented, focussed, and a bit humorless -- pretty much, what you think of when you think "Accountant", not surprisingly. I'm also a tall woman, who is smart and not comfortable backing down when I'm right. You can imagine the sorts of responses that's gotten over the years, right? Aside from the attacks from men about my "obvious" sexual orientation, there's a lot of "she's just a [rhyhms with rich]" or worse. Instead of backing me up -- like, maybe, because I was right? -- my last boss used to come after me to 'be nicer to the sales guys.' You know what? Sucks a lot, but it's also the way the world is.
My solution was to get out of Business with a capital B, and get into non-profits, where I could just steamroll over the real idiots without worrying so much. But I absolutely feel your pain over this issue. I *can* present myself well -- too many years as a trainer, using my bright and sunny side -- but anyone who hires me because I look so sunny and easy will get a shock. I justify it by saying, "Well, if you're going to hire on the basis of what is effectively a sales pitch, it's your expectations you should be examining, NOT my social performance in this position. And now that that's done, do you want to discuss my PROFESSIONAL performance?" Not sure what the answer is. Maybe a realignment of corporate values?
Until then, I guess we'll just remind each other that the world ain't perfect, and it's what we got.
poster:Racer
thread:372839
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20040725/msgs/372878.html